Opposition unity on display at Rahul Gandhi's Iftar party

rahul-iftar-opposition-unity Former president Pratibha Patil and Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury greet former prime minister Manmohan Singh during the Iftar party hosted by Congress president Rahul Gandhi | PTI

Former president Pranab Mukherjee, who was in the eye of a storm after he attended an RSS event, was present at the Iftar party hosted by Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday.

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh, former president Pratibha Patil and former vice president Hamid Ansari were among the dignitaries who attended the function at a hotel where leaders from opposition parties, including rebel Janata Dal(United) leader Sharad Yadav, Communist Party of India(Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Janata Dal(Secular) leader Danish Ali, Trinamool Congress leader Dinesh Trivedi and Bahujan Samaj Party's Satish Chandra Mishra were also present.

Nationalist Congress Party leader D.P. Tripathi, DMK's Kanimozhi, Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Jha, and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha's Hemant Soren were the other opposition leaders who were present along with Congress leaders P. Chidambaram and A.K. Antony.

Pranab Mukherjee, whose acceptance of the RSS invite became a matter of big controversy, greeted those present at the function as he moved among the guests. Rahul Gandhi welcomed him and other guests.

There was a speculation whether Pranab Mukherjee would be invited, but the party issued an official statement to set at rest any such reports by saying that the former president has indeed been invited.

Pranab Mukherjee left after a while.